• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.21-29
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• 2023

This study investigates the transitional aspect of vowel harmony in Korean verbal conjugation. By observing the patterns of harmonic and disharmonic tokens of 42 verbal stems searched for in the National Institute of Korean Language (NIKL) Korean Dialogue Corpus 2020/2021, I found that disharmonic tokens appeared less than 0.1% of time, most of which consisted of an /a/-stem with a monosyllabic sentence-final suffix. It was noted that disharmonic pattern started to spread to other suffixes and possibly to /o/-stems. A simple perception test showed that the disharmonic forms might have originated from vowel reduction or undershoot. These results suggest that the ongoing change is accounted for from both the articulatory and perceptual perspectives.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2020

This study identified the substitution of /u/ for /o/ (e.g., pyəllo [pyəllu]) in Korean based on the speech corpus as a function of grammar items. Korean /o/ and /u/ share the vowel feature [+rounded], but are distinguished in terms of tongue height. However, researchers have reported that the merger of Korean /o/ and /u/ is in progress, making them indistinguishable. Thus, in this study, the frequency of the phonetic manifestation /u/ of the underlying form of /o/ for each grammar item was calculated in The Korean Corpus of Spontaneous Speech (Seoul Corpus 2015) which is a large corpus from a total of 40 speakers from Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. It was then confirmed that linking endings, particles, and adverbs ending with /o/ in the word-final position were substituted for /u/ approximately 50% of the stimuli, whereas, in nominal items, they were replaced at a frequency of less than 5%. The high rates of substitution were the special particle "-do[du]" (59.6%) and the linking ending "-go[gu]" (43.5%) among high-frequency items. Observing Korean pronunciation in real life provides deep insight into its theoretical implications in terms of speech recognition.

• Lingua Humanitatis
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• v.8
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• pp.313-329
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• 2006

In some American English dialects, the vowels /a:/ or /c:/ have been replaced with /a:/, as in caught /ka:t/ dog /da:g/ that were pronounced in /kc:t/, and /dc:g/ previously. General American does not have /a:/ in its vowel system. But in East American and Western Pensylvania, cot and caught are homophones, /ka:t/, and similarly with other pairs such as collar vs. caller, stock vs. stalk, don vs. down, knotty vs. naughty. The use of /a/ or /c/ is quite unstable, and is a well-known diagnostic for distinguishing the northern speech area of the United States from the midland and southern area. For an increasing number of Americans, however, entirely lack the opposition between /a/ and /c/, merging to /a/, referring to 'both' of the vowels of lot. This paper investigates the use of /b:/ in American dialects and its relationship with /a:/, /c:/ in AE, and with short /a/ in RP. Examining the isoglosses of the use of /a:/ in various databases of the phonological atlas of North America, this paper discusses the use, position, and trend of merger to /a:/ from the vowels of /a:/ and /c:/ in Current American English.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.37-46
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• 2021

Background: The increase in the activity of the upper trapezius (UT) muscle and decrease in the activity of the serratus anterior (SA) and lower trapezius (LT) muscle produce an abnormal scapulohumeral rhythem. Therefore, the SA is the focus of therapeutic exercise protocols for the rehabilitation. This study aimed to compare the activity of the muscles according to resistance levels during protraction exercise. Methods: Thirteen healthy 20 to 30 years old male and female subjected participated in the study. All subjects performed the scapular protraction exercise with the weights of 0, 5, and 10kg, combined with horizontal shoulder abduction and adduction. The electromyography data of the SA, UT, and pectoralis major (PM) during the exercise were recorded using surface electrodes. The ratios of PM/SA and UT/SA were calculated. Repeated one-way ANOVA was used to determine the statistical significance. Results: There was a significant difference in the muscle activity of the SA and PM (p<.05). Specifically, SA had the highest activity and PM had the lowest activity at an abduction resistance 10kg (p<.01). There was a significant difference in the ratios of UT/SA and PM/SA (p<.05). The ratio of PM/SA was the lowest at the abduction resistance of 10kg (p<.01). Conclusion: According to this study, for the selective activation of the serratus anterior, protraction exercises should be applied as a method of adding resistance to protraction and horizontal abduction.